Teeing off for charities!
by Robert Yang | Sept. 4, 2019
Each year, Hawaiian Electric hosts an Aloha United Way Golf Tournament to support AUW’s efforts to better the lives of the most vulnerable members of our community. This year — the 19th — drew more than 200 players and raised nearly $87,000 for AUW.
I had the privilege of attending the annual charity event, which was held at the Waikele Country Club on Aug. 16. Just as it has in previous years, it all starts with the planning committee! This year, our Energy Delivery department led the charge. Months prior to the event, employees planned every detail — venues, sponsors, participants, volunteers, logistics, activities, and more.
Once everything was in place, the committee hosted an executive meet and greet event the night before the tournament to help kick things off. The gathering took place at the recently opened Hookupu Center at Kewalo Basin. Tournament participants, sponsors, volunteers, and other guests spent the evening networking before the main event.
“Thank you to everyone! Our AUW efforts are a huge success thanks to Hawaiian Electric’s dedicated employees and gracious friends, sponsors and donors,” said Christian Whitney, Hawaiian Electric acting director of pole infrastructure enterprise and co-lead of the golf tournament planning committee.
Let the tournament begin!
At 8 a.m. the next day, volunteers congregated at the Waikele Country Club. It was incredible to see that participants from all over the country flew in to play in the tournament and contribute to AUW.
Guests could buy raffle tickets to win amazing prizes from our sponsors, such as round-trip airline tickets and premium golf packages. A photo booth was also available for those who wanted a keepsake from the event. If you came with some friends (or noticed some rivals), you could sabotage their golf game by hiring a “professional heckler” to disrupt them on hole 9. It was all in the name of charity — and all payments collected from these activities and perks would go on to benefit AUW.
At 11 a.m., golf balls were dropped from the top of one of our bucket trucks to signify the start of the tournament. Participants headed to their designated starting holes on the course and golfed away. Even though it was a friendly tournament for charity, participants were very competitive. Teams would rotate throughout the course and the competition would continue to fire up. Volunteers were stationed at various holes, some served hot dogs and refreshing beverages to golfers while others served shaved ice to cool them down from the scorching sun. Participants would continue golfing until dusk. At the end of the day, a banquet was held to celebrate the end of another successful golf tournament.
“It’s nice to see that our planning paid off! With dozens of employees volunteering their time to put the event together, it feels good to reach our goal and help to raise funds for AUW. Most importantly, everyone had fun golfing!” said Rudy Tamayo, director of telecommunications and co-lead of the golf tournament planning committee.
This event continues to provide much needed support to AUW’s efforts in delivering assistance to and creating opportunities for Oahu’s struggling communities. We look forward to continuing the tradition and playing next year!
Robert Yang is a digital communications and social media specialist at Hawaiian Electric Company.
